Mitra Foundation was born in November 2013, out of an unexpected, tragic event that brought together a group of friends grieving the loss of their young neighbour and friend to cancer. Wanting to commemorate his death, Mitra Foundation was registered as a charitable trust with a broad charter and provisions to host multiple targeted projects.
Jeevan Shakti was the first initiative to be launched. This initiative was to assist families of terminally ill or deceased patients, helping the beneficiaries build the ‘strength to live’. We started collaborating with Karunashraya, a hospice for cancer patients and in the first year, started working with 3 families referred by them. Over the years, Jeevan Shakti initiative has grown to support more than 100 families. Apart from Karunashraya, we now work several other hospitals and organizations like Shankara Cancer Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Bangalore Kidney foundation. In 2025, we decided to support families of not only cancer patients but also those suffering from other diseases.
In 2014, Mitra Foundation launched its second Initiative Jan Sahayog. The idea of this initiative was to bring communities of L B Shastri Nagar together through various programs. We started Blood donation camp in the locality and have been running it over the last 12 years (a total of > 25 so far). We have also been doing health camps and driving environmental programs under this initiative.
After about 3 years of work, in 2016, Mitra foundation received approval for the donations received to be exempt under section 80G. In the year 2024, Mitra Foundation also received CSR-1 certification from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India.
Till 2023, Mitra Foundation was run primarily out of Bangalore. In 2023, we started our operations in Bhuvaneshwar and have been working with Bagchi Karunashraya Palliative Care Centre (BKPCC). We have also been supporting beneficiary families in places where our volunteers have reach. These include, Thiruvannamalai (TN), Raichur (AP), and places in and on the outskirts of Bangalore.
In 2025, Mitra Foundation launched its third Initiative, the Vidya Nivesh Scholarship. We saw the need to support academically bright students for higher studies and degree programs.
Mitra Foundation’s initiatives are driven by volunteers. We have more than 40 volunteers across the 3 initiatives who are engaged with all our beneficiaries on a regular basis.